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New Delhi:

Punjabi singer Guru Randhawa has deactivated his X account after taking a subtle dig at Diljit Dosanjh over his decision to release Sardaar Ji 3, featuring Pakistani actor Hania Aamir, overseas in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack (April 22). Guru didn’t take Diljit’s name but the Internet was convinced that the post was meant for Diljit. 

What’s Happening

• Guru Randhawa wrote a post on X, reminding Diljit Dosanjh of his roots. 
• “Lakh pardesi hoyieee. Apna desh nhi bhandi daa. Jehre mulk da khayie us da bura nhi mangi da. Even if now your citizenship is not Indian but you were born here pls remember this. This country made great artists and we all are proud of it. Pls be proud of where you were born. Just an advice. Now don’t start controversy again and manipulate Indians LOL. PR bigger thn artist (sic),” he wrote.
• The Internet was quick to spot that Guru’s post was meant for Diljit amid the Sardaar Ji 3 fiasco. 
• Soon after the post went viral, Guru Randhawa deactivated his account on X. 

Background 

Diljit’s Sardaar Ji 3 (which releases in overseas theatres today) landed in trouble after the trailer released on Sunday (June 22) and it featured Pakistani actor Hania Aamir. 

In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, film body like the Federation of Western India Cine Employees banned Pakistani artistes working in India. Diljit, who’s one of the producers of the film, skipped the film’s India release to avoid controversy. 

Defending his decision to release the film, Diljit Dosanjh, during a conversation with BBC Asian Network, said that producers’ hefty money was invested in the film. The shooting was done much before the Pahalgam attack happened, said the Punjabi singer.

New Delhi:

Sonakshi Sinha, who is currently promoting her new film Nikita Roy, shared her thoughts with NDTV on Pakistani actors being banned in India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack (April 22). 

The conversation around Pakistani actors being banned in India has re-surfaced after Diljit Dosanjh’s Sardaar Ji 3 landed in trouble for casting Pakistani actor Hania Aamir.When NDTV asked Sonakshi Sinha what she feels about Pakistani actors being banned in India, the actress replied, “Do they allow Indian actors to work there [in Pakistan]? I mean I stand in solidarity with my country. I’ll always stand by the decision they take.”

After the Pahalgam attack, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees, an organisation of movie workers, had called for boycotting Pakistani artists, singers and technicians in the Indian film industry. They had called for a similar ban after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, which claimed the lives of 40 paramilitary personnel.

Following the Pahalgam attack, this organisation renewed its directive. “Despite the ongoing directive, we’ve been made aware of the recent collaboration with Pakistani actor Fawad Khan for the Hindi film, Abir Gulaal. In light of the recent attack in Pahalgam, FWICE is once again compelled to issue a blanket boycott on all Pakistani artists, singers and technicians participating in any Indian film or entertainment projects. This includes performances or collaborations occurring

New Delhi:

The industry is recovering from the shock of Kaanta Laga fame Shefali Jariwala’s sudden death at 42. In light of the tragic incident, an old interview of her talking about how much she was paid for the song has resurfaced. Shefali Jariwala had revealed that she was paid Rs 7000 for the hit number and her father was completely against it.

What’s Happening

• Shefali Jariwala had become an overnight sensation after the release of her hit remix song Kaanta Laga.
• She was spotted outside her engineering college by director duo Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, who had offered her the music video.
• Speaking of the signing amount she received, the actress-model had told the Times of India, “I was in college then and I come from a family of academicians, so my parents told me to focus on my studies. But I wanted to do it because I was getting paid for it. I earned Rs 7,000 from that song, and I wanted to see myself on TV.”
• Furthermore, she revealed how her father was not in favour of her being a part of the song, “My father was completely against it. So first, I took my mom into confidence and then, we both convinced my father. And that song turned out to be such a hit that it was like a fairytale for me. It changed my life completely.” 

About Her Other Projects

Shefali first rose to fame with the 2002 music video Kaanta Laga, which became a massive hit. She later appeared in the film Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, alongside Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan. 

She had also participated in Nach Baliye 5 with her now husband Parag Tyagi. 

She made her digital debut with an adult comedy series titled Baby Come Naa in 2018. 

However, her Kaanta Laga song video was always the defining moment in her career that was a major pop-culture moment in the 2000s.

In A Nutshell

In an old interview with Shefali Jariwala that has resurfaced, the actress-model spoke about the amount she got for her iconic number Kaanta Laga. She also spoke about how her father did not support it initially.

Former India cricketer and reputed pundit Aakash Chopra has ruled out the possibility of Shreyas Iyer being considered for India’s Test team anytime soon. Shreyas has made himself an automatic selection for Team India in ODI cricket, and was even their highest run-scorer during the victorious Champions Trophy 2025 campaign. The 30-year-old also enjoyed a good domestic season and IPL 2025. However, Chopra stated that his turn has not yet come in red-ball cricket. In fact, Chopra stated that there are several other batters, such as Sarfaraz Khan, waiting-in-line ahead of Shreyas when it comes to Test selection.

There aren’t many issues with the Indian batting, as it is. Besides, Shreyas Iyer won’t get a chance now. Many others haven’t gotten a chance either,” Chopra stated, speaking on his YouTube channel.

“If you think about it, Karun Nair has only just gotten his chance. Sarfaraz Khan hasn’t been given a shot. Dhruv Jurel is waiting on the sidelines. If he cannot even get among those who are in the waiting line, then how can he be considered for selection?” Chopra said.

Chopra further said that Shreyas will have to wait for his turn in Test cricket.

“I know he had a good first-class season. He had a good IPL, taking Punjab Kings to the final. He did well in white-ball cricket, but his time will come in Tests. He will have to wait just a little bit,” Chopra added.

Shreyas enjoyed a superlative cricket season ahead of India’s tour of England. Iyer made 480 runs in just seven innings in Ranji Trophy 2024/25, at an average of 68.57 and an impressive strike rate of over 90.

In IPL 2025, Shreyas went one step better, justifying his RS 26.75 crore price tag and leading Punjab Kings to the final. He enjoyed his best IPL season with the bat, slamming 604 runs in 17 matches.

However, the likes of Sarfaraz Khan have not managed to make it to the Test squad despite performing well in limited opportunities. In just six Tests, Sarfaraz has three half-centuries and a best score of 150.

Sarfaraz has also impressed playing for India A in England. He slammed a knock of 92 for India A against England Lions in the first practice match, before going on to smash a century in Team India’s intra-squad match, where pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was also in the bowling attack.

Suryavanshi, who was wearing no. 18 on his back, a number synonymous with India great Virat Kohli, slammed five sixes and three fours as India A chased down a target of 175 with 26 overs to spare. Suryavanshi had given India A a flying start in the chase, with the visitors crossing the 70-run mark in the 8th over. Suryavanshi was dismissed by Ralphie Albert in the same over.Earlier, England captain Thomas Rew won the toss and opted to bat at the County Ground in Brighton.

Rocky Flintoff, son of England great Andrew Flintoff, top-score with a composed 56 off 90 balls while Isaac Mohammed hit a quickfire 42 (28).

Kanishk Chouhan was the pick of the bowlers for India U19 as he took 3/20 while Mohamed Enaan, Henil Patel and RS Ambrish all took a couple each.

England made 174 all out in 42.2 overs.

India U19 now lead 1-0 in the three-match series. The second and third matches will be played on June 30 and July 2 at Northampton. The fourth and fifth One-Dayers are scheduled for July 5 and 7 in Worcester.

Following the white-ball series, the team will play two multi-day matches. The first will take place from July 12 to 15 in Beckenham, and the second will be held from July 20 to 23 in Chelmsford.

India U19 Squad: Ayush Mhatre (Captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra, Maulyarajsinh Chavda, Rahul Kumar, Abhigyan Kundu (Vice-Captain & WK), Harvansh Singh (WK), R. S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Henil Patel, Yudhajit Guha, Pranav Raghavendra, Mohammed Enaan, Anmoljeet Singh, D. Deepesh, Naman Pushpak

Former Indian cricket team batter Aakash Chopra questioned the decision to not keep Jasprit Bumrah‘s availability for the Test series against England a ‘secret’. Following India’s loss against England in the first Test match in Leeds, Chopra said that the Indian team management should not have revealed the fact that Bumrah will not be playing all five Test matches in the series. Ahead of the series, head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar made it clear that Bumrah will be playing three Test matches and four if the required.

Bumrah said he will play three matches only, and I am thinking whether it was required to publicize it. Why was it not kept a secret? We don’t announce our team as well. So why was it necessary to reiterate it repeatedly before the start of the tour that he would play three matches only? Let them guess. You play whichever Tests you wish,” he said on YouTube.

Chopra further explained that the knowledge of Bumrah not playing all the matches can help England in preparing pitches accordingly.

“You have played one, and you know you can play only two of the remaining four matches, which is not a good thing. If you play the second as well, you will play one of three. So, suddenly, the opposition gets into a great frame of mind that Bumrah, your biggest strength, is also not there. You can prepare pitches accordingly,” he observed.

Former cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri believes India should think twice before resting world number one Jasprit Bumrah in the second Test against England after succumbing to a five-wicket defeat at Headingley.

On the final day of the pulsating fixture on Tuesday, England gunned down a 371-run target to pull off their second-highest successful chase in Test cricket. Bumrah served as the driving force in India’s seemingly toothless attack, with sizzling figures of 5/83 in the first innings.

Former India player Shikhar Dhawan is quite an honest and fearless personality. He is a man who lives life to the fullest. Be it on or off the field, Dhawan is always a charming figure. The ex-India opener has made a sensational revelation regarding his personal life dating back to 2006. Recalling his India A tour to Australia, Dhawan revealed how he made a girlfriend and later used to ‘smuggle’ her to a hotel room that he shared with Rohit Sharma during the tour. He also revealed the reaction of Rohit over the incident. Dhawan added that his relationship with the girl went viral in the team.She was very beautiful, and suddenly I was in love again! I thought to myself, ‘She is the one for me, and I am going to marry her,’” Dhawan wrote in his autobiography as quoted by Sportstar.

“I started with a half-century in a practice game, and my tour was progressing well. After every game, I would go over to meet up with Ellen (not her real name) and I soon started smuggling her into my hotel room which I was sharing with Rohit Sharma. Now and then, he would complain in Hindi. ‘Will you let me sleep?’

“One evening, when I headed for dinner with Ellen, news of her presence spread like wildfire throughout the entire squad. A senior national selector, who was on tour with us, spotted us walking in the lobby with our hands linked.

“It didn’t even occur to me that I should let go of her hand, because to me, we were committing no crime. There was a good chance that if I had performed consistently on that Australia tour, I would have made it to the senior Indian side, but my performance kept dipping.”

While the first Test between West Indies and Australia at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados is shaping up for an intense finish, much of the headlines on Day 2 were made not by the players, but by the third umpire for the game. South African umpire Adrian Holdstock – the third umpire for the match – gave a number of calls that brought discontent from both sides. In particular, West Indies appeared to have been left aggrieved by repeated dubious calls going against them, even after DRS (Decision Review System).

The two most notable incidents occurred for the dismissals of West Indies captain Roston Chase and wicket-keeper batter Shai Hope, who were also the top run-scorers of the side in the first innings.

Chase, well set on 44, was given out LBW after being caught on the pads by Pat Cummins, but had taken an instant review.

Replays appeared to show a spike on UltraEdge when the ball was close to the bat, before it had hit the pads. However, third umpire Holdstock did not consider it an edge, and proceeded to give Chase out.

Former West Indies fast bowler and reputed commentator Ian Bishop highlighted his disagreement with Holdstock’s decision

Stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana smashed her maiden T20 International hundred to power India to a commanding 210 for 5 against England in the first match in Nottingham on Saturday. Mandhana (112, 62 balls) was aggression and confidence personified from the word go and she made up for the struggles of her opening partner Shafali Verma (20, 22 balls). Her knock is the highest for India in T20Is, surpassing Harmanpreet Kaur’s 103. Mandhana, who led the team in the absence of regular captain Harmanpreet, and Shafali milked 77 runs for the opening wicket off 8.3 overs as India raced off the block.

Shafali’s dismissal did not deter Mandhana as the left-hander raised a further 94 runs for the second wicket with an equally aggressive Harleen Deol (43, 23 balls), who was dropped on 26 by Danny Wyatt-Hodge off off-spinner Alice Capsey.

Mandhana did not give any such chances to England, and she started off with three boundaries off left-arm spinner Linsey Smith in the fourth over, and hardly took her foot off the accelerator.

Later, she also punished another left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone for two sixes in the seventh over as Indian innings chugged along.

At the other end, Deol relied more on sweeps to fetch boundaries, using the general lack of direction of English bowlers on the day till she fell to Lauren Bell.

Mandhana soon went past 87, her previous best in T20Is, and touched the three-figure mark for the first time in her career that has 31 fifties.

Mandhana, who eventually was dismissed by Ecclestone, reached the cherished mark with two successive boundaries off pacer Bell, who was England’s most successful bowler (3/27).

Bell removed Richa Ghosh (12) and Jemimah Rodrigues (0) in the 18th over to bring some temporary relief to the home side, but India had already reached a position of strength by then. 

India’s lower-order batters have left a lot to be desired with their failures in the first Test against England and seamer Prasidh Krishna says they are “putting in the work” at nets to come out better prepared for the second game in Birmingham. India’s lower order caved in without a fight in both innings which proved decisive in the final outcome. The visitors lost their last seven wickets for 41 runs in the first innings to be bowled out for 471, and in the second essay, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh — all fell for ducks — as India lost their last six wickets for 32 runs.”As the lower-order batsmen, we definitely are working on… If you look at our net sessions, we are putting in the work.

“I think it is about putting your mind in there as well, making sure you trust yourself, trust the skill that you have and be there at the crease for a little longer. And then the numbers and the runs are going to show, and we are working towards it,” Prasidh said during a press conference.

Runs from the lower order and tail will be welcome as India look to restore parity after losing the series opener by five wickets at Headingley.

New skipper Shubman Gill’s captaincy in his first Test at the helm received mixed reviews from former players.

“About Shubman, yeah, I think he did a pretty good job. All of us saw how he rotated the bowlers, made sure everybody had enough breaks, brought in people at the right kind of spells,” IPL ‘Purple Cap’ winner Prasidh said.

“He saw opportunities and brought in the right kind of bowlers. All of that was great. And knowing him, he set a very good atmosphere around. He’s been speaking to all of us. We always go in with a plan and the communication is happening there,” he added.

Gill succeeded Rohit Sharma as captain of the Indian Test team after the latter announced his retirement few days before Virat Kohli too decided to bring the curtains down on his illustrious career in the game’s traditional format